in preparing for my last toastmasters speech, where i talked about why i walk and use public transit instead of owning a second car in our family, i came across an interesting site that looks at your ecological footprints. these are my results:
CATEGORY ……………… GLOBAL HECTARES
FOOD ……………………… 3.7
MOBILITY ………………… 0.5
SHELTER ………………… 1.5
GOODS/SERVICES ……… 1.5
TOTAL FOOTPRINT ……… 7.2IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 8.8 GLOBAL HECTARES PER PERSON.
WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 1.8 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE GLOBAL HECTARES PER PERSON.
IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 4 PLANETS.
i like the idea of footprints. everywhere you go, everywhere i go, we leave footprints. when you leave a comment here, you leave a very visible footprint but also a footprint in my memory. when a client talks to me, his joys and pains leave footprints in my heart.
being aware that we leave footprints leads first to awareness, and then perhaps to mindfulness. what is the consequence of taking the next step? what path am i walking?
it looks like the path that i walk as a “consumer” is taking up too much room although it’s taking up less room than the average canadian. it’s interesting to compare that to a previous blog entry, where i wondered how much room was my “due” here in canada.
i figured that my share was about 11.2 hectares. of course, the vast majority of of land in british columbia, where i live, is not biologically productive, so maybe i wasn’t so far off there.
hmmm … so there is a balance needed here. on the one hand, it’s wonderful to be like my friend’s young daughter in that blog entry, who unselfconsciously takes up whatever space she needs. on the other, i need to be a conscious adult, knowing at every step that whatever i do has consequences.
i pray for balance, then.
isabella mori
counselling in vancouver
I took the quiz. “If everyone were like you we would need 3.6 planets.” That’s kind of harsh :0( I must do better!